Breakdown of Maalaus oli liian haalistunut ja tahrainen tunnistaakseni sen.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
ja
and
tunnistaa
to identify
Questions & Answers about Maalaus oli liian haalistunut ja tahrainen tunnistaakseni sen.
Why does the infinitive tunnistaakseni have the -ni suffix if the painting is the subject?
The possessive suffix tells us who is doing the action in this construction. The subject of the main clause is the painting (maalaus), but the -ni suffix shows that I am the one who would do the recognizing. If it were 'too faded for him to recognize,' it would be tunnistaakseen.
Is haalistunut an adjective or a verb here?
It functions as an adjective, but it is actually the active past participle (the NUT-participle) of the intransitive verb haalistua (to fade or lose color). Using NUT-participles as adjectives to describe a resulting state is very common in Finnish.
What is the root of the word tahrainen?
It comes from the noun tahra (a stain or smudge). Adding the common suffix -inen turns it into an adjective meaning 'stained' or 'having stains.'
Why is the object sen instead of the partitive sitä?
The verb tunnistaa (to recognize) typically takes a total object because recognizing is viewed as a complete action. Because the main clause has a normal subject (maalaus), the total object of the infinitive phrase takes the genitive-like accusative form sen.